Watched the first few minutes of RAW out of curiosity as I heard they had a new production. The new music, logo and title sequence are an improvement. The writing is as bad as ever.

That arena was very small. It feels like a show being wound down.

Exactly, I doubt anyone would want to see three new titles introduced and on top of that confirmation of the cruiserweight title in a space of a week. Itll be overkill especially with Summerslam around the corner. Best to get the main title on Raw sorted and at Summerslam and then for Smackdown to introduce whatever belts in time for Backlash, which is their PPV first. That way you set up the PPV for both tag team and women's division without being overshadowed.

Well if Raw is getting a cruiserweight title then Smackdown must be getting a TV title.

WWE, Women's, Tag Team and IC titles are enough titles for Smackdown.

Why? Smackdown doesn't need 2 mid card titles, Raw having the cruiserweight title makes sense as it is a longer show

I think one show should have got the Cruiserweight devision and one show have got the womens devision.

On the TV Title I could see NXT getting a TV or Network Title one day.

Should have but didn't, so we are left in the position of the women on Smackdown having nothing to fight for (same goes for the male tag teams).

These need sorting out, just for clarity if nothing else.

Smackdown will most likely be getting universal versions of the Women's and tag titles, in my opinion. Still think it would have been better had they just split the current titles rather than create new ones.

If Hawkins is coming back they should pair him up again with Ryder. He was always a underrated talent.

For the record i do think the womens title should be defended on both brands, Just don't think they need to rush into making that announcement, They could make it the women of smackdown get annoyed that they have no title and maybe DB and Shane have to trade a top talent to get the womens title made non brand exclusive

The trouble is they have made a big song and dance about the titles being brand exclusive, so to then have someone go on both brands would seem counter to that.

On a different note, boy am I looking forward to main event of NxT Brooklyn!!!
Oh my, that should be an amazing match!!!

If its brand exclusive bring back the bloody Divas title to Smackdown.

They made a big deal of it not being 'divas' anymore so they can't do that

Exactly, so they would have to think of a different name for the new title/belt.

I'd have the titles as:
Raw Championship
Raw Women's Championship
Raw Tag Team Championship
Cruiserweight Championship.

Same for SD apart from the Cruiserweight championship and IC/US on separate brands.
They'd just need to emphasise the point that the new brand-exclusive titles carry on the lineage of their parent titles.

Not that it changes anything.

I'm excited to see Rollins vs Balor at SummerSlam. Less so Ambrose vs Ziggler (even though it should be a good match).

Yes they thought Divas was a bit demeaning to women.

How about The WWE Chicks Championship

Yet they still have a show called Total Divas.

1.517m paid subscribers so slowly creeping up. 4.5% increase on the post Mania update. Currently at 1.560m total subs but expecting a decline going into Q3

But since it is a brand on E where a word such a Diva (and you could argue fits with the target viewer) is not really such a problem and seems to be quite popular on the channel its not really the same. While they contain the same characters they are very different things

Back in 2011 they had both CM Punk and John Cena hold the same title at the same time. What you've said is what I thought they'd do. It might have even been the plan a couple of weeks ago, when they booked the double pin. The problem might have been they wanted to put both Ambrose and Smackdown over big time at Battleground. Still, they could have still taken that route if Rollins hadn't been pinned on Smackdown.

Its ironic considering those who appear on Total Divas were mainly against the Divas brand. However itll be interesting how they tackle the show now the split is back.

However I doubt the Divas title is returning, its likely a new belt is currently being developed and as some have said under the Universal banner. A bit of disgrace though when you consider theyll have two divisions and not a single title history is a year old.

Yea but you will find getting the exposure that something like appearing on a show on a channel like E will bring them more then makes up for having to be labeled a "Diva" are they not making a new show with the Bella's? Something with a extended family? Shows like Totally Divas while of course want to attract the same audience as Raw etc but also want to bring in a new type of viewer more the sort of people who watch the rest of reality tv shows

They kind of booked themselves into a corner when they had Seth pinned.

Going forward, each division needs its own title. Otherwise, what's the point? They may not choose to introduce new titles by SummerSlam, but they really should either give some sort of direction on how they're planning on dealing with the Women's and Tag Team titles or slowly introduce new titles. Maybe one PPV at a time.

Would you rather they bring back the Bragging Rights PPV or have the same concept applied to Survivor Series?

If they add a SD Womens Championship they don't need to call it the Universal Womens Championship thry could call it The WWE Ladies Championship.

That said there is not enough women for 2 titles they have really messed this up.

Due to work and lack of enthusiasm for the product had a bit of a break from WWE and just about caught up now. Feel much more enthusiastic and better for the break too.

Battleground seemed the best Battleground so far (though admittedly that's not a high bar to set) - the Zayn/Owens match in particular being a highlight.
I was a bit disappointed in the Shield triple threat mind - a good match but it didn't feel as much of a blockbuster match as I'd hoped it would be and it should've been.
But that's mainly down to it being on the same week as the draft, the build being awkward as one of the three wasn't there, the alignments (a real peeve of mine now) and the match taking place on Battleground and the winner being fairly predictable.

Thoughts on the draft - Smackdown's roster is very thin. There's Ambrose, Cena, Orton and AJ on the top level - and Ziggler and Wyatt on the level below - but beyond that not much really. The addition of Shelton was badly needed.
The whole 'giving guys an opportunity' speel that Shane and Bryan keep saying sounds ridiculous too when they've got the likes of Cena, Orton and Kane on the roster while on Raw you have the likes of Owens, Zayn, Cesaro, Balor, Neville etc.

I like the Raw roster a lot on the other hand - plenty of depth and I love the fact Rollins, Balor, Nia Jax, Zayn, Owens, Gallows and Anderson and Cesaro etc.are all on the same brand. Lots of great matches to come.

Will get onto this week's Raw + SD in another post.